Unexpected turn of events

Greetings! I bet you were expecting to see me come back on this blog after church camp and post amazing pictures and wonderful testimonies about the amazing move of God... well, God is sovereign and so very good, in both the good times and in the storms. This week at camp, we encountered a bit of a trial. Take a look at this picture of Nick's right ankle....

This is a very bad case of cellulitis, which landed him in the ER up in church camp territory Tues. evening, and then promptly admitted to the hospital here at home Thursday evening. Poor kid... he couldn't even walk, and just cried and cried.

Here is a picture of Nick on the 4th of July being such a good sport about missing the parade and the fireworks. Dad bought him this big flag balloon. Nick is watching cartoons.... you know... the kind that lower your IQ just by nature of watching them....

The worst part of the hospital stay was Nick's wretched veins. He had 3 of the best IV nurses in the hospital trying to establish an IV for his antibiotics, but it took them EIGHT sticks to get one, and they got it in the worst location possible for a clyndamycin drip...that stuff burns terrible going in, and the location of his successful IV was on the part of his wrist where you feel for your pulse. OUCH. Needless to say, my little drama king who is terrified of needles did a lot of screaming and crying. At one point, his face was PURPLE as he screamed, "Don't touch me! Get away from me! I am running away! This is the worst place on the face of the earth! Blah blah blah......." SO, we decided to put this shirt on him for the benefit of the nurses....

Of course, he ultimately was NOT in charge, but it made him feel better, anyway.

The Great Sandini, aka Big Sister, was a tremendous blessing!!!!!! She came over and brought him a dart game, and ended up playing PlayStation 2 video games with Nick for a couple of hours. Sandy did SO much for us during his stay. And even before we got home, she so sweetly offered to sit with Nick at camp for 2 hours while Jason and I packed all the precamper stuff and all our luggage back in the truck and trailer. Also, Jason's mom was a tremendous blessing...not only did she bring the boys home in her vehicle and take Adam for the night, but she did a bunch of our laundry! WOWOWOWOWOWOW!!!!!! We're not worthy! Thank you so so so so much, Julie! We love you to pieces!

So... we are now home from the hospital, and the "unpacking" from camp begins. I will post some pictures and testimonies from camp later tonight. We really did have a magnificent time in the presence of Almighty God! Talk to you soon!